Rugby

/rug"bee/, n.

1. a city in E Warwickshire, in central England. 86,400.

2. a boys' preparatory school located there: founded 1567.

3. Also, rugby. Also called rugger, Rugby football. a form of football, played between two teams of 15 members each, that differs from soccer in freedom to carry the ball, block with the hands and arms, and tackle, and is characterized chiefly by continuous action and prohibition against the use of substitute players.

[‡1835-40 for def. 3]

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Football sport made up of two variant codes

rugby union and rugby league.

The sport was first developed in the 1820s at Rugby School in England. In 1895 a dispute over professionalism between the Rugby Football Union and several clubs in northern England led to the creation of rugby league (always a professional sport). Rugby union became fully professional in 1995. The game is played by teams of 15 (union) or 13 (league) members each, using an inflated oval ball. The ball may be kicked, carried, or passed laterally or backward (but not forward). The object is to score goals (worth three points) by kicking the ball between the uprights of the opponent's goal, or tries (worth five points in union play, four in league), by grounding the ball behind the opponent's goal line. A conversion kick (worth two points) is attempted after scoring a try. Both rugby union and rugby league have international play and world cup tournaments. Rugby is most popular in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

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▪ England, United Kingdom

      town and borough (district), administrative and historic county of Warwickshire, central England. The town of Rugby was not of great importance until the coming of the railways in the 19th century. It then became a railway junction and attracted a wide range of industry, including especially the production of electrical equipment. Rugby School, a famous public (i.e., fee-paying) school, was founded for boys in 1567 by Laurence Sheriff, a local resident, and was endowed with sundry estates including Sheriff's own house. The school flourished under the headship of Thomas Arnold (Arnold, Thomas) between 1828 and 1842 and became, under his rule, a model of the British public school for following generations. It was the scene of Tom Brown's School Days (1857) by Thomas Hughes and the founding place of rugby football. The borough includes a mainly rural area surrounding the town. Area 137 square miles (356 square km). Pop. (2001) town, 61,988; borough, 87,449.

▪ North Dakota, United States

      city, seat (1889) of Pierce county, north-central North Dakota, U.S. It lies about 140 miles (225 km) northwest of Grand Forks. Rugby, founded in 1885 as a Great Northern Railway (Great Northern Railway Company) junction and named for the English town (see Rugby, England), was settled by Scandinavian and German immigrants. It is in an agricultural area producing wheat, barley, rye, sunflowers, and dairy products; also, truck parts are manufactured there. As determined by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1931, the geographic centre of North America is located just south of the city; the location is marked by a 21-foot (6-metre) stone monument (constructed 1932, moved to present site 1971). Also on the site is the Northern Lights Tower, an 88-foot (27-metre) set of steel pillars lit to mimic the effect of the aurora borealis (aurora). The city also features the Prairie Village Museum, with exhibits on local history, and the Victorian Dress Museum, located in a former church building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The International Peace Garden is about 45 miles (70 km) north of Rugby on the Canadian border. In Wolford, northeast of Rugby, the Dale and Martha Hawk Museum hosts an annual antique farm show. Inc. 1905. Pop. (1990) 2,909; (2000) 2,939.

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